Celebrate: Putting a Book in a Reader's Hands

I was going to celebrate something very different today and may still celebrate that other thing later, but in the midst of sitting down to write this post, I looked over at my nineteen-year-old son who was deeply engrossed in the book I had just pulled off the shelf and handed to him five minutes before.  

My son is a reader, so the reading was not necessarily a celebration, but the fact that he was open to reading something that was a departure from his traditional reading and that he dropped everything else to begin reading it is the celebration.

There are many wonderful electronic distractions in this 21st Century life, so it was reaffirming to see that the printed word still holds its own against them. I can just as easily get caught up on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, along with all the other content out there on the WWW. Having a book placed in my hand (or ardently recommended) is sometimes necessary for me to pull myself out of that electronic universe.

The book that I handed my son is a book by a family friend, written after the loss of his nineteen-year-old son in a climbing accident on Devil's Thumb in Alaska. I thought of the book because I was reading an article in the paper about the lost Malaysian plane. I don't think I can articulate explain why my brain made this connection, but it had something to do with geography, plane flights, and loss.

I am glad that my son is reading this book. I think it will become an important part of his story quilt, the internal fabric of who he is, woven by the threads of the stories that matter.

The who, what, and where of kindergarten readers

These kindergarten students each created a story about reading. Their stories tell one of these things: where they like to read, what they like to read, or who they like to read with. 

Reading is important to these kindergarten students, and here's why:

Lions of Little Rock: What Beverage Are You?

We are gearing up to begin our Civil Right Unit. In preparation, the classroom teachers are reading The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine. 

Our experience using this book last year was a valuable in many ways. You can read what my 4th graders learned during a visit with Kristin Levine. 

You can listen to my students talk about the book.

You can read this student's review:

Now, for this year's new addition to the project:

A student's response from last year led us in a new direction of focusing on character traits.

"I learned how to describe characters without saying or writing how they look. This is useful because there is no "right" or "wrong" of how characters look, (for readers) but you still know what personalities they have.  I learned how to do this because the author of "Lions of Little Rock" wrote that in her second book.  The character Marlee describes other characters as beverages.  I can't wait to use this in my writing!" 

Using a Google Form, the students in this 4th grade class each shared one word to describe Liz and one word to describe Marlee.

Liz

Marlee

Using Wordle, it's easy to see which trait was most commonly used to describe each of these girls. I think it would be interesting to repeat this task after finishing the book, or near the end to see if and how the students' perceptions or understandings of the girls changes.

The second new aspect involved having the students think about their own character traits. As Kristin Levine does in The Lions of Little Rock, the students described themselves as a beverage and then brainstormed different character traits that described them.

They created a Tagxedo of their beverage:

They then used Wordle and brainstormed character traits/

beverage descriptions for themselves:

Slice of Life: Stories Connect Us

Stories connect us.

Tonight, I am working on a project with a 4th grade teacher for the book, The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine. Working with this book is poignant because the connections are both happy and sad. It was fourteen months ago that my father had a brain bleed and I found myself reading this book to him in the hospital. My mother and I used the book as a launching point for a discussion about my parents experiences in the Civil Rights Movement. At the time we thought my father would make a full recovery, but he has not. These fourteen months have changed his life (and therefore ours) in ways that I could not have prepared myself. So here I find myself, being thrown back emotionally to those days in the hospital and then struck by how quickly life changed. Yet reading this book again and working collaboratively with the teacher also carries happiness and hope, along with the remembrance of the ways this book has connected me and continues to connect me with my students. Stories connect us to people, to a time period, to a place, and to memories. These connections, like threads in a quilt, become part of the fabric of our lives.

You can read about my experience of reading this book while my father was in the hospital.

"Stories connect us."

I am pleased that this is the message that Kate DiCamillo carries with her as 

National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.

Stories do connect us and when we are lucky, they reconnect us.

Raising Our Voices in Story

World Read Aloud Day (WRAD) is a day where people around the globe raise their voices in story to demonstrate the value and importance of global literacy initiatives. WRAD was created by LitWorld, one of the many organizations trying to bring literacy programs to the communities that need them.  Many of us feel so passionate about LitWorld's mission that we participate for an entire week, one day is just not enough.  The week of March 3-7, 2014 was one of making new friends, reading books together, and creating memories.

We reflected on why reading is important: 

  We read from these books:

We virtually visited these places:

Google Earth Tour

We made friends with readers in 18 other states and 2 other countries.

(our map grew as the week went along)

We were inspired by authors Ame Dyckman, Peter H. Reynolds, and Kate DiCamillo.

We participated in the coolest group Skype with National Ambassador For Young People's Literature and Newbery -Medal Winning author, Kate DiCamillo, along with students in Minneapolis, Michigan, Maryland, Georgia, Iowa and Monterrey, Mexico!

In short, we loved raising our voices in story:

World Read Aloud Day is just the beginning. 

We'll be raising our voices in story all year round. 

Stories connect us. 

Stories can change the world.

Celebrate: Stories that connect us

It's time to...

Thing One: Participating in 
World Read Aloud Day (Week)

We have been participating in World Read Aloud Day all week. Connecting with authors Kate DiCamillo, Ame Dyckman, and Peter H. Reynolds was amazing, but equally as amazing was connecting with readers from across the country to raise our voices for global literacy by reading aloud together. Don't underestimate the power of shared reading experiences. Change is in the air. Stories connect us.

Thing Two: Making a story connection 

In this midst of this week of sharing stories, I made a story connection that was both surprising and wonderful. A not-well-known picture book from my childhood, that I had read with my children, popped up on the screen when Ame Dyckman was showing some of her childhood favorites. Stories connect us. 

Thing Three: Meeting Shannon Hale

In an impossibly full week, I squeezed in a visit to a local book shop to meet Shannon Hale.  I was telling Shannon about how Austenland shifts from my daughter's bedside table to mine periodically. I explained that it was a comfort book and that when life is feeling overwhelming, I can pick up the book, read the airport scene and then close the book and drift off to sleep having let go of my worries. She loved hearing this. Stories connect us.

Thing Four: Visiting the BPL 

I helped organize a gathering for school librarians in the Metrowest area of Boston. We went on an outing to the Boston Public Library, where we received a behind-the-scenes tour. It was a fabulous tour, made even more so by this group of book lovers. We all kept stopping to read and share titles, and "ooh" and "aah" over the sheer volume of materials. Stories connect us.

Thing Five: Having both my children home from college, at least for a few nights.

The house is full of youthful energy and how wonderful it feels. Along with that youthful energy comes balancing multiple schedules, organizing meals, and ignoring the mess. Apparently life in college dorms has not broken my children's habit of coming into the house, dispatching with shoes and backpacks, and shedding outer layers in a manner that makes my house look like it has been ransacked. Of course, I can't completely blame them, here's how my week looked in shoes.  Apparently, I walk into my house, out of my shoes and never look back.  

The one thing that I don't mind finding all over the house? Their books. These stories connect us.

A WRAD-i-cal Week: The final day

We've been celebrating World Read Aloud Day all week long. Here is the awesomeness of our final day.

We connected with Peter H. Reynolds, author and illustrator of The Dot, Ish, and Sky Color amongst many others. There could not have been a better way to finish this incredible week of connecting and sharing stories. Peter started off the visit by getting to know the students.

How many people like to draw?

How many people like to draw and to read?

After taking a sip of his creativi-tea (He is a punny guy!), he proceeded to draw a character that was reading a book for World Read Aloud Day. 

Now, sign it.

The students had many questions, two of which were about the ages of Ramon and Marisol (characters from the Creatrilogy), which I think is interesting because it tells me that they are identifying with the characters. We are holding onto our other questions for a later date. It was time to read Sky Color.

After a discussion about the color of apples, Peter then gave some wonderful advice to the students, "Your first answer may be right, but your second answer may be more interesting."  I love this advice, it puts an emphasis on deeper thinking. The students have now been charged with illustrating a word.  When the project is finished we'll come back to Peter with our creations.

Other amazing happenings of the day included:

A class of second grade students connecting with some kindergartners from Connecticut and read aloud from You Read To Me, I'll Read To You by Mary Ann Hoberman.

A class of second graders read 

The Story of Fish & Snail by Deborah Freedman

with some first graders in Wisconsin.

A class of fifth graders connected with students in another town in Massachusetts and read aloud from 

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Fables to Read Together by Mary Ann Hoberman.

Another fifth grade class connected with students in another town in Massachusetts are read aloud from 

Mirror, Mirror by Marilyn Singer.

A third fifth grade class connected with some third graders in 

Berlin, Germany and read aloud from 

Mirror, Mirror by Marilyn Singer.

This was a great day of sharing stories 

with those both nearby and far away.

We've raised out voices in support of global literacy, have you?